Wiccan Problems

While the practice of the Wiccan religion has increased the problems Wiccans have faced have not. These problems are not the same ones that Wiccans faced when the religion first came about. There are ways to fix these new problems that have appeared. One of the ways to begin fixing some of the problems would be to be more open towards nontraditional religions. According to Walker, Americans have begun to adopt a more nontraditional approach to religion. Neopagans and Wiccans take the nonliteral and eclectic approach of mixing religion and art and simply run with it. Wiccans and Neopagans fuse classical mythologies, tribal spiritual practices and sometimes even popular fiction together. This mixing of faith and art seems to happen because the

These problems are mainly caused by people still associating Wicca and Neopaganism with Satanism and Devil worship. The belief in the devil is not something most Wiccans or Pagans even believe in. Devil worship is primarily a Christian belief. This common misidentification can cause social workers to mistake normal Wiccan and Pagan practices as satanic abuse. The danger signs of satanic abuse include problems associated with supernatural rituals, occult symbols, religion, being preoccupied with wands, sticks, swords, tarot cards, spirits, magic potions, supernatural powers, asking unusual questions, attempting magic, calling on spirits, praying to the devil, singing odd ritualistic songs or chants, doing odd ritualistic dances that can involve symbols, and being preoccupied with occult symbols. Some children state that they or someone else has prayed to the devil, threw curses, made potions, performed ritualistic songs or dances, called upon spirits, did magic, and that they or someone wore ghost, devil, Dracula, or witch costumes while using ceremonial wands or swords (Cookson 2). While some of these cases may have been satanic abuse it is necessary to differentiate Wicca and Paganism from this otherwise it is likely to cause fear, harassment, and possibly even legal